(aka "Meng long guojiang" or "Fury of the
Dragon" or "Return of the Dragon" or "Revenge of the Dragon" )

directed
by Bruce Lee
Hong Kong 1972

Known in the west as Return of the Dragon, Bruce
Lee's The Way of the Dragon is another classic martial arts film
featuring the Dragon at the peak of his powers! Bruce Lee is Tang
Lung, a Hong Kong expatriate in Italy who gets the opportunity to
use his fists when local thugs begin muscling in on the local
Chinese restaurant. It's a simple exchange: the thugs set foot in
the restaurant, and Tang Lung cuts loose with a flurry of kicks and
punches designed to inflict the maximum amount of damage with the
minimum amount of effort. Then, more fighting ensues.

The Way of the Dragon co-stars popular starlet Nora Miao, and is a
true tour-de-force for Bruce Lee. Not only did he star in the film,
but he also wrote, produced, and directed - and this is in addition
to his expected action choreography duties. The results of his labor
are a wildly entertaining martial arts film that's sure to make
kung-fu fans of all ages grin from ear-to-ear. Most famously, The
Way of the Dragon features a dramatic showdown between Bruce Lee and
Chuck Norris in the confines of Rome's ancient Colosseum!

ADDITION Shout! Factory
Blu-ray - September 2013: This is the
first
Blu-ray
of the 4-Blu-ray
7 DVD Bruce Lee Legacy Collection being released by Shout! Factory. It
is a large book-style package (see photos above) with
The Big Boss,
Fist Of Fury,
The Way Of The Dragon and Game of Death
in 1080P. We hope to
cover the entire set by later this week.

I

n comparison to the Kam & Ronson
Asian
Blu-ray - this is a
little different than the what we saw with
The Big Boss and
Fist Of Fury, in that
Shout! Factory's The Way of the Dragon has a significantly more
robust bitrate (is dual-layered) but is similar in that the US 1080P has
cooler, and I feel more authentic, skin tones. I feel the higher bitrate
manifests itself in the contrast which is marginally more layered and
supports the detail a notch higher. Actually this appears more
pronounced in-motion than in the static stills. Bottom line is that this
Shout! Factory
Blu-ray is superior
visually and the best transfer of the film to date despite the sources
inconsistencies

Shout! Factory go whole hog again with the audio options:

The surround bump on this sounds decent if not exhibiting
modern-level crispness or range.
Purists will appreciate the, original, mono tracks although it would
have been preferential to have them lossless (LPCM.) There is a lot of
fighting effects in The Way of the Dragon and they sounds very
punchy (no pun) via the Mandarin DTS-HD Master. It was my choice when
viewing and, although imperfections arise, I was reasonably pleased with
the results.

We get yet another commentary by Hong Kong film expert
Mike Leeder, plus (similar to the other Blus)
Trailers, a lone US TV Spot, an alternate 'Title Sequence' (running
5-minutes) and a Stills Gallery. A video piece of celebrity interviews,
same as found on the Kam & Ronson, includes Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and
Wong Jing but runs a scant 4.5 minutes. New (I think) is a 21-minute
piece entitled Kung Fu? Jon Benn Remembers the Shooting of the Film.
The highlight is Leeder's commentary but there is value in the other
bits and pieces - especially Jon Benn's.

Once again the Shout! Factory eclipses the other 1080P in
every area - image, audio and extras.

*

**

ADDED: Kam & Ronson
Blu-ray - January 2010: Well, it does look better -
colors are richer, detail up a small notch, more grain (or what appears
to be grain) and certainly
darker and more film-like - whether the screen caps bear that out or
not. Skin tones are slightly warmer. It's even more 'Asian' blue-green than the HK Legends. I have no
reason to support or doubt that this is not more theatrically accurate
representation.
It looks the best I have seen the film anyhow - despite the modest
Blu-ray
single-layered transfer.

Audio is a step up too with a DTS-Master and TrueHD lossless track -
respectively in original Cantonese and dubbed Mandarin - a shade
sync-off on the English parts. Bruce Lee's
kicks and punches crack a little crisper. There is minor separations to
the rear speakers. There are also optional subtitles - English seems
précised a bit - and my
Momitsu
has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked (playable on North
American machines).

Extras don't consist of much - the same 9-minutes of 'celebrity'
interviews (really just sound-bytes) about Bruce Lee as found on the
Fortune Star Bruce Lee boxset. There is also a photo
gallery.

So, who should buy? Bruce Lee hardcore fans and those that haven't seen
the film. Those who own the HK Legend DVD will have to have a pretty decent-to-discerning system to warrant the upgrade - although it is easily
noticeable for the audio.

ON
the DVDs: The image of Hong Kong Legend
is slightly squeezed horizontally, about 1.5%, giving it 2.35:1 in AR.

This time around, Hong Kong Legend has the "eastern" greenish look, while
Fortune Star is "western", almost the exact opposite of "Enter the Dragon". As both are almost identical in detail, Hong Kong
Legends just looks a bit better.

Fortune Star has the original mono track, which is the one to chose. The
5.1 tracks have the added rear speaker sounds, which, at least on the
Fortune Star, sound inserted.

In terms of extra, HK Legends wins again. A commentary by Bey Logan, three
interviews and a bio. This is the DVD to go for.